Depression Inversely Linked to Body Composition in Teens

Updated: Jun 19th 2017

MONDAY, June 19, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- There is an inverse correlation for major depressive disorder (MDD) severity with measures of body composition among older adolescents, while a positive association is seen for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI), according to a study published online June 16 in Pediatrics.

Chadi A. Calarge, M.D., from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and colleagues followed a cohort of medically healthy 15- to 20-year-olds who were unmedicated or within one month of starting an SSRI to examine changes in body composition. Two hundred sixty-four participants contributed 805 observations over 1.51 years of follow-up.

The researchers found that MDD severity was inversely associated, prospectively, with body mass index (BMI), fat mass index, and lean BMI z scores, while there was a positive correlation seen for cumulative SSRI treatment duration and dose with these outcomes, after adjustment for age, sex, physical activity, dietary intake, and time in the study. There was no significant association noted for generalized anxiety disorder severity and diagnosis with any body composition outcome. The association with the increase in all body composition measures was strongest for citalopram and escitalopram, while the correlations with fluoxetine were weaker; no difference was observed for sertraline versus no SSRI treatment.

"Depression severity was associated with a reduction in weight over time, whereas SSRI use was associated with an increase in weight over time," the authors write.